Summary
Topher recaps a call with Eric about fast-tracking a new website and plans next steps for tomorrow.
Discussion
- Eric wants to build digital customer relationships and remove friction for boat owners.
- The current Ugly Johns website is broken and repetitive, prompting a plan to fast-track a scaled-down replacement.
- Topher will prepare location-specific questionnaires for tomorrow's meeting to gather details on amenities and services.
- Financials and contracts were not discussed, and Jeremy will likely need to be involved to formalize the partnership.
- Ugly Johns lacks in-house digital expertise and has had negative experiences with previous agencies.
Action items
- Discuss financials and contracts with Eric to gauge his interest — Topher (tomorrow)
- Prepare location-specific questionnaires for tomorrow's meeting with Eric — Topher (tomorrow)
Speakers
Transcript
So, Eric just called me off the fly, Eric Fatkin, and wanted to talk about the Ugly Johns meeting that is set for tomorrow, Friday, June 12th. And he just wanted to get in front of what we're going to be chatting about, which is funny because Eric and I are talking an hour before that meeting.
I thought to align a little bit as well. But Eric was just calling to kind of check in. And he didn't really add anything new to the conversation. He kind of just really reiterated what they're really looking for.
And in the long story, they're looking to build relationships, start relationships digitally. And so, him and I talked about how, yeah, the current website isn't doing that at all. The current website is basically a Craigslist ad and doesn't show anything.
And he wants to make sure that we're aiming towards the relationship of, you know, customers are knowing that when they come to Ugly Johns, they're getting an experience. You know, they don't have to worry about things when they're on the water.
When they buy a boat from Ugly Johns and then down the road, they've got their boat stored there, the maintenance is taken care of, they can get fuel there, they can get snacks there. Like, the full service is taken care of.
So, when they're ready for a lake day with their family or they want to go fishing, they just come hop on their boat and they go and everything is taken care of. There's no headaches. They remove all the friction out of being a boat owner.
And so, that was really the key.
I shared with him that I was going to walk back my comment a little bit. So, last week I said, you know, it may be really difficult to get something live in production quickly.
But then I shared with him that, like, I've gone through his website in more detail, the current site, and it's worse than I thought. And the only reason that I would walk that conversation back a little bit, because generally, this isn't my nature.
I want to make sure everything is double tested, triple tested, and it's good to go. We don't want to have errors before we push them out there.
But their current site is so broken that I feel confident that we can't possibly make it any worse than what it is today. So, it looks good from a brand site, but to navigate through is just difficult. There's broken links here and there.
It's very repetitive. So, I actually do think that if we want to start this partnership, we could fast track a website, get something out there online immediately.
And we can talk about that tomorrow.
I would imagine the scaled down version as scaled down as possible. And then we could talk about updates going forward from there. We did not talk about financials or contracts just yet. I plan on dropping that a little bit to Eric tomorrow to see what his feel is, where we should bring that up.
I've got a feeling that when we get to that point, Jeremy's going to need to be involved. And Jeremy, unfortunately, is not going to be there tomorrow.
But I think after tomorrow's meeting, there could be a meeting tomorrow afternoon with Jeremy. Because I think my hope is that tomorrow's meeting in the morning is going to go so well that they're going to want to move forward immediately.
And we may be talking about getting in front of Jeremy quick sooner than later to formalize any kind of partnership.
They're really looking for somebody, though. Long term, they're looking for someone to be able to take care of everything they need from a digital. They just don't have any expertise in anything related to digital. And they've been burned in the past by agencies that have over -promised and under -delivered kind of thing.
So that was really a recap.
Oh, Eric started to go into detail on a lot of the things related to just the area. And I told him this was information that I needed because I'm not a local to that area. So I need to know kind of what that information is.
And my goal is tomorrow morning when I meet with Eric, I'm going to have questionnaires ready to ask him about like geographically what tell me more about what each location is. That way, people who are on the online can also have this information.
So Lake Ulufa or whatever that one is, it's next to Carlton Landing. Carlton Landing is a resort there. And Carlton Landing may or may not have mechanics or something. Each one has its own different uniqueness. I'm sitting here talking to you.
Oh, no, you're talking to that. Yeah, I'm talking to you, too. You're going to ask me what happened on the call.
Jamie tried to walk away.
Anyways, each different location. This is important for you in the website. Each different location has its uniqueness. How many slips they have is important. What's available at each location is food available is gas available or mechanics available. Those kinds of things, I think, are extremely important.
And that's information that we need to surface on the site so that users know. Oh, if I need my boat fixed, I can go to this location or I can call this location or this location has water mechanics that could drive.
I can drive out to me. Those kinds of things are extremely important.
Okay, now I'm pretty sure that was everything. will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will will Thank you.